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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

CP12.1: Sheep & Goats - 5 min talks
Location: Lecture Theatre 2
Session Chair: Vern Bowles, The University of Melbourne
Session Chair: Nichola Calvani, The University of Sydney

Presentation 2

A national survey of gastrointestinal nematodes in Australian dairy goats using faecal egg counts and deep amplicon sequencing

Endris Ali¹, Abdul Ghafar¹, Ghazanfar Abbas¹, Bahar E Mustafa¹, Sandra Baxendell², Elysia Ling¹, Charles Guaci¹, Ian Beveridge¹, Mark Stevenson¹, Abdul Jabbar¹

1: The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; 2: Goat Veterinary Consultancies—goatvetoz, Keperra, Queensland, Australia

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) are a major constraint to goat health, welfare and productivity worldwide and represent the highest-priority pathogens affecting goats in Australia. However, contemporary national-scale epidemiological data for Australian dairy goats are limited. This study quantified the prevalence, infection intensity, species diversity and determinants for GIN infections in Australian dairy goats. Faecal samples (n = 1,028) collected from 68 herds across Australia were analysed using a modified McMaster technique. Strongylid-positive samples (n = 500) underwent deep amplicon sequencing of the ITS-2 rDNA region for species identification. Prevalence estimates were adjusted for herd-level clustering, and predictors for strongylid faecal egg counts (FECs) were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models. Strongylids were detected in 91% of goats and in all herds, substantially exceeding the prevalence of Trichuris spp. (13%) and Nematodirus spp. (5%). Strongylid FECs were markedly overdispersed, with 30% of animals contributing 80% of total egg output. Age, climatic zone, anthelmintic treatment and coinfection with Eimeria were statistically significant (P < 0.05) determinants of strongylid FECs. Metabarcoding identified 11 species, dominated by Haemonchus contortus, Teladorsagia circumcincta and Trichostrongylus colubriformis, with distinct regional patterns. These findings demonstrate substantial infection pressure and species diversity, informing evidence-based parasite control for the Australian goat industry.